Boron nitride (“BN”) comes in a variety of crystalline structures and has a variety of uses from polishing agents to lubricants. Hexagonal boron nitride (“hBN”) is a very desirable form and a white composition having hexagonal layer structure similar to graphite. Because of its properties, it has found uses in heat conductivity applications, electrical insulation applications, corrosion resistance applications, lubrication applications, and as a plastic additive. Boron nitride can be molded and used in composite materials or as a raw material for cubic boron nitride. It is used in many applications including electronic materials, non-oxidizing ceramics sintering filler powder, makeup materials, medical additives, etc.
In the prior art, BN may be manufactured in a high temperature reaction between inorganic raw materials into a white powder composition of BN particles, having a hexagonal structure similar to graphite in platelet morphology. When platelet BN is added as a filler to a polymer, a blended material is formed having poor rheological properties. At loaded concentrations above 30 wt. % BN, the blended material is so viscous that it is difficult to dispense from a mechanical dispenser such as a syringe.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,731,088 discloses a process to manufacture BN, forming a dry powder of spherically shaped agglomerates of irregular non-spherical particles bound together by a binder and subsequently spray-dried. The spherically shaped BN agglomerates can be compounded into polymer compositions at levels of 35-50 wt. % for compositions with viscosity below about 300 cp.
JP Publication No. 05-051540 discloses BN powder treated with at least a titanate coupling agent, a silane coupling agent, and a non-inonic coupling agent in an amount of 0.1 to 5 wt. %, to improve the wettability of the BN in applications such as a release agent, a lubricant, a low-friction material, a coating material, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,849 discloses a thermally conductive moldable polymer blend having at least 60 wt. % of BN powder having an average particle size of at least 60 microns and coated with a coupling agent, and wherein the thermally conductive composition has a thermal conductivity of at least 15 W/m ° K.
There is still a need for improved BN compositions, particularly for BN compositions that can be used in large quantities as a filler in applications such as electronic materials, thermally conductive compositions, and the like. Applicants have found the surface functionalization of BN with a zirconate coupling agent helps reduce the viscosity of the polymeric compound, allowing more BN filler to be added and thus improving the overall thermal conductivity of the material.